An omnidirectional imaging system is an imaging system capable of recording image information of all directions (360 degrees) from a particular point. Since the omnidirectional imaging system can provide very wide field-of-view images, as compared to an existing imaging system, the range of applications of the omnidirectional imaging system has increasingly been broadened not only to research fields such as the fields of computer vision and mobile robots, but also to practical fields such as the fields of surveillance systems, virtual reality systems, and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, and video conferencing.
Various methods can be used to obtain an omnidirectional image. For example, images may be obtained by rotating one camera with respect to an optical axis that satisfies a single view point, and an omnidirectional image may be generated by combining the images. In another example, a method may be used in which a plurality of cameras are arranged into an annular structure and images obtained by the plurality of cameras are combined. A user may generate an omnidirectional image using various omnidirectional image processing apparatuses (or omnidirectional image processing cameras) for obtaining an omnidirectional image.
However, an existing omnidirectional image processing apparatus is inconvenient to carry around and thus has a problem in that the user may not be able to obtain omnidirectional images naturally in his or her daily life. For example, the existing omnidirectional image processing apparatus is installed (or mounted) at a certain place, or held by both hands of the user, to stably acquire an omnidirectional image. Also, when image capturing is performed in a handheld mode, an image of the user may also be captured due to the characteristics of a 360-degree camera, so that the image of the user may be included in an omnidirectional image.
Thus, it is difficult for the user to acquire an omnidirectional image easily and naturally using the existing omnidirectional image processing apparatus.